Rome (dpa) - The Italian government during a cabinet meeting in Rome on Tuesday called a do-or-die confidence vote in the Senate in order to speed up approval of its 2007 budget.

The vote was to take place "by Saturday", said Anna Finocchiaro, a party whip in Prime Minister Romano Prodi's Olive party.

The move is a potentially dangerous one for Prodi's centre-left coalition as it enjoys only a wafer-thin majority in parliament's upper house. Defections by even a handful of senators could prove fatal for the government, which would be forced to resign if defeated.

Prodi's cabinet decided to call a confidence vote after parliament struggled to tackle scores of amendments to the draft put forward by opposition lawmakers.

The draft envisages nearly 35 billion euros (46 billion dollars) in tax hikes and spending cuts designed to contain the country's budget deficit within limits imposed on eurozone members.

After its approval in the Senate, the budget would have to return to the lower house, where it has already cleared a similar confidence vote. // © 2006 DPA


Publication date: 12 December 2006   

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